Dust guard



July 4, 1939. R. H. KIMBALL 65 mm sum:

Filed July 10, 19s! 2 sheets-sheet 1 y 1939. R. H. KIMBALL 2,165,102

DUST 0mm]: I Filed July 10, 193"! 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 the box being placed in position Patented July 4, 1939 PATENT OFFIQE DUST Richard H. Kimball, Bridgewater,

to George 0. Jenkins GUARD Mass, assignor Company, Bridgewater,

Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 10,

6 Claims.

This invention relates to dust guards particularly intended for railway car axle boxes, and has for an important object the provision of a dust guard which will effectively prevent the entry of water and other foreign matter into the axle box and which will maintain its effectiveness for long periods without attention.

A further object is to provide means for sealing the guard to the axle, this :means automatically adjusting itself to the axle diameter, such diameters varying considerably.

A still further object is to provide such sealing means which will permit the easy placing and removal of the axle with respect to the box.

A still further object is to provide means for sealing the dust guard to the axle box.

Further objects and advantageous constructions will appear from a complete description of an embodiment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a central vertical section through an axle box shown in position on an axle and provided with a dust guard constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation to a larger scale of the dust guard.

Figures 3 and 6 are detail sections:on.lines3-3 and ii6, respectively, of Figure '2.

Figure 4 is a detail section through the upper portion of the dust guard channel of the box showing the dust guard being inserted or removed.

Figure 5 is a detail section somewhat similar to,

but on a larger scale than Figure 1 and showing on or removed from the axle.

Figures '7 and 8 are views similar to Figures '1 and 2, respectively, but showing a modified construction.

Figure 9 is a section on line 9--9 of Figure 8.

Figures 10 and 11 are views similar to Figure 9, but showing further modifications.

Figures 12 and 13 are views similar to Figures 4 and 5, respectively, but showing the construc- 5 tion of Figure 9.

Figures 14 and 15 are views similar to Figure 9, but showing further modifications.

In Figure l is shown a conventional type of car axle box I having a peripheral channel :2 at its 50 back or inner end forming a chamber to receive the axle dust guard. A conventional car axle is shown at 3. This extends through a somewhat elliptical opening 4 through the back of the box in order to allow for vertical play of the box on '55 the axle. The axle is provided with a reduced 1937, Serial No. 152,969

diameter journal portion 5 on which rests the usual brass 6 and wedge I of the bearing, the axle being turned down slightly inwardly of the bearing portion *5 to form a surface concentric with the axle bearing where it passes through the 5 opening 4 in the rear end of the box. The dust guard of this invention is arranged to be seated within the dust guard channel 2 and to make sealing engagement with the portion 3 of the axle and also with the outer face 8 of the dust guard- 10. receiving channel.

The dust guard, as herein shown, comprises a substantially rigid plate like member H] which is shown as rectangular at its upper end and convex at its lower'end. It is provided with a central aperture H somewhat larger than the portion -3 of the axle so that this portion 3 passes loosely therethrough. This member it may be made of any suitable material which should be resistant to the passage of oil and water and 2 should be of some strength and rigidity. For this purpose, a fairly hard leather or fiber board is satisfactory, particularly when this board has been coated-or treated with waterproofing agents such as wax. It may also be coated with an oilv resisting varnish, as is well known to those skilled in this art.

There is no standard diameter for the portion '3 of the axle, since it is usual practice to turn down axles from time to time as they become 0 worn not only in the bearing 5 but in the portion 3, which passes through the dust guard. Because of this it is necessary, in order to provide a-sealing contact between the dustguard and the axle, and yet avoid the necessity of making a i large number of sizes of dust guard, to provide a packing which is inherently capable of expansion and contraction where it engages the axle so that 'it will-automatically conform to axles of different diameters.

In order to provide a construction which will conform to these requirements, a special type 01' packing =has been developed. This is formed of some relatively soft, flexible, preferably heatresistant material which may be so treated as to 5 render it oil and water-resistant or proof, and which may well be asbestos fabric with or with out wire reinforcing such as is common in the manufacture of such fabric. This fabric is so formed by folding, or otherwise, as to present an enlarged diameter stretchable bead portion i5, thicker than the fabric layer or layers, about a central opening through which the axle passes and with which it may make sealing contact. This bead portion may be provided, as shown,

with a core I6 of a contractible and expansible nature, such, for example, as an outer tube I! of rubber or the like within which is housed a contractible loop member I8. This core is preferably unsecured within the fabric, being free to slide therein so as not to interfere with the desired contraction and expansion of the bead diameter.

a A non-sticky dusting or lubricating material such as graphite may be used between them. As shown this loop member I8 is formed as a coil spring, the ends of which are brought together into ring form and are there secured as by means of any suitable form of coupling such as the wire coil is shown in Figure 6, which may be threaded into opposite ends of the spring I8 and thus secure these ends together. This spring l8 should be under tension so as to tend to close the marginal portion I5 of the axle-receiving opening of the packing against the axle, regardless of the exact diameter of the axle, which in practice may vary three-sixteenths of an inch or more. The rubber tube I1 is preferably somewhat shorter than the normal length of the perimeter of the axle-receiving opening, so that it will not unduly limit the minimum, diameter to which the bead portion may be contracted.

This packing is secured to a face of the plate member It by any suitable means, such as rivets or staples, which should be somewhat remote from the edge of the axle-receiving opening of this plate member so as to permit motion of the packing bead lengthwise of the axle. Thus, when the box is being placed in or removed from position on the axle as shown in Figure 5, the bead is moved laterally, which tends to expand it, thus losing its grip on the axle for the time being.

I By placing the packing on the wheel side of the dust guard, it acts as a deflector for water which may strike the journal box from the wheel side.

The adjacent portion of the inner periphery of the opening I I of the plate member III is recessed or beveled on as shown at 2| so that when the guard is being inserted or removed from the channel 2 in the axle box, the thickened bead portion I5 may be deflected toward the opposite face of the plate member I0 thus to reduce the over-all maximum thickness of the guard and 7 permit the guard with the bead member to pass example, graphite so that through the space defined by the width of the channel 2. This'is shown in Figure 4. The recess also facilitates lateral motion of the bead when the box is being placed in position.

In the normal position of the parts the bead portion projects substantially wholly from. one face of the packing ring, this face being that remote from the plate member ID, as shown in Figure 3. The position of the head at one face of the packing ring facilitates the expansion and contraction of the bead, this being accompanied by a lateral deflection of the material of the ring adjacent thereto. This packing ring is preferably treated with a suitable lubricant, as, for the axle may rotate within the bead portion without undue friction, thus prolonging the effective life of the packing.

The packing may also be made use of to seal the dust guard to the adjacent face of the dust guard channel 2. 'As ordinarily formed, these axle boxes are cast and the walls of the channel 2 are somewhat rough as they come from the foundry. The material of the packing, however, is sufficiently soft so that by exerting some pressure thereon, it may be caused to engage the cast surface of the channel 2 sufficiently close to preinto the interior of the box and also to prevent the escape of oil from the box. Means are therefore provided by which the dust guard is pressed toward the back of the box so as to bring the packing into sealing engagement therewith. This may comprise spring means which reactbetween the opposite face of the plate member I0 and the adjacent wall member of the box which defines the front face of the dust guard receiving channel. As shown this spring means comprises a plurality of yieldable pads 25 which may be provided with resilient ribs or projections 27 (see Figure 3) engageable with the adjacent face of the dust guard channel and which are of such length that they must be somewhat deformed when the dust guard is in position. These cushioning elements are preferably formed of rubber or synthetic rubber compounds resistant to oil. As shown four of these pads may be used, one each being placed at the top and bottom and either side of the opening I I, but more or less of these pads may be employed as desired.

In Figures 7, 8 and 9 a somewhat modified construction is shown in which instead of employing a yieldable pad 25, such as is illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 5, sealing means for the side wall of the dust guard in its slot in the journal box is provided by the employment of a portion of the axle packing. As shown in these figures, the fabric which is folded to form the annular bead portion I5 is secured to one face of the rigid member I0, but between the layers of this fabric is inserted an annulus of deformable material such as 35 which is shown as a rubber tube. This annulus may be positioned by the staples or similar attaching means 3| which secure the fabric In some cases it may not be found desirable to employ as the exposed surface of this sealing element the same fabric which forms the, bead I5, and where this is the case, a separate annular cover strip 35 may be employed attached over the outer face of the fabric and having the deformable core 36 interposed therebetween. This core 36 should be of deformable material and may be identical in construction with the deformable tube 30 shown best in Figures 9, 12 and 13. This sealing ring or bead may be formed quite independent of the fabric which forms the bead I5, as shown in Figure 11, being composed of two layers of fabric 3'? and 38 between which is located the core 36.

In the constructions heretofore described the folded fabric forming the annular bead I5 issecured to one face of the member I il, but it may be secured difierently to this rigid carrying plate. For example, as shown in Figures 14 and 15, the plate may be formedof a pair of lamlnations 49 and 4|. One of these, as 4|, may at s2, so that when these laminations are placed together, a space, will be formed therebetween for the reception of the outer margins of the fabric as which is folded to form the axle-sealing rib 54. As shown in Figure 14, the central plane of this rib 44 may be in line with the central plane of the folded portions of the fabric, but preferably this bead is offset, as shown in Figure 15, similar to the constructions heretofore described, in order that the advantage of a more flexible and yielding construction may be obtained, facilitating the placing of the box in position on the axle, and facilitating the automatic size conformation of the bead to the surface of the journal of the axle.

This application is a continuation in part of my application Serial No. 46,767, filed October 25, 1935.

From the foregoing description of certain embodiments of this invention, it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from. the spirit or scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A dust guard comprising a substantially rigid plate member having an aperture therethrough of a size to loosely receive a car axle, a layer of flexible sheet material carried by said member spaced from said aperture and having an axle-receiving opening therethrough, the margin of said opening being tubular in cross section, a flexible tube within said tubular margin, and a contractible spring ring within said tube tending to contract said margin into sealing engagement with said axle.

2. A dust guard comprising a substantially rigid plate member having an aperture therethrough of a size to loosely receive a car axle, a layer of flexible sheet material carried by said member spaced from said aperture and having an axle-receiving opening therethrough, the margin of said opening being tubular in cross secton, a flexible tube within said tubular margin, a coil spring within said tube, and means connecting the ends of said spring together to form a contractible ring tending to hold said margin into sealing engagement with said axle, said tube being of less length than the normal contracted circumference of said margin and free to slide therein.

3. A dust guard comprising a substantially rigid plate member having an aperture therethrough of a size to loosely receive a car axle, a layer of asbestos cloth secured to said member spaced from said aperture and having an axlereceiving opening therethrough, the margin of said opening being tubular in cross section, a rubber tube within said tubular margin, and a coil spring ring within said tube tending to contract said margin into sealing engagement with said axle.

4. A dust guard comprising a substantially rigid plate member having an aperture therethrough of a size to loosely receive a car axle, a layer of asbestos cloth secured to said member spaced from said aperture and having an axle-receiving opening therethrough, the margin of said opening being tubular in cross section, a rubber tube within said tubular margin, and a coil spring ring within said tube tending to contract said margin into sealing engagement with said axle, said tubular margin being arranged to project substantially wholly from one face of said layer.

5. A dust guard comprising a plate member having an aperture of a size to loosely receive a car axle, a layer of flexible material secured to one face of said member and having an axlereceiving opening therethrough, and a stretchable annular bead portion of greater thickness than said flexible material and adapted for close engagement with said axle around the margin of said opening, said member having the margin of its opening adjacent to said layer recessed substantially opposite to said bead to permit said bead to be pressed therein to temporarily reduce the normal over-all thickness of the dust guard to permit entry and removal of said guard to and from the guard-receiving channel of an axle box.

6. A dust guard comprising a substantially rigid plate member having an aperture therethrough of a size to loosely receive a car axle, a layer of flexible sheet material folded on itself to form an annular bead at the fold closely embracing said axle, said folded portions being secured to one face of said member spaced from said aperture, and a tubular annulus of larger diameter than said aperture between the folds on one face of said member and surrounding said aperture and forming with said folds an annular side sealing member on side face of said guard.

RICHARD H. KIMBALL. 

